Greencastle woman produces television documentary

Eastern Mennonite University's Courtney Ryan says she's proud to have worked on profile of humanitarian killed in Afghanistan

October 19, 2012|By ROXANN MILLER | roxann.miller@herald-mail.com

Ryan

GREENCASTLE, Pa. — When Courtney Ryan left Greencastle to attend Eastern Mennonite University, she never dreamed she’d produce a television documentary.

Ryan, 21, a senior at EMU in Harrisonburg, Va., along with 15 other students from her visual and communication arts class produced “Weaving Life: The Life and Death of Peacemaker Dan Terry.”

The documentary will air Sunday, Oct. 21 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on channel 3 (WHTM).

“Weaving Life,” will air on select ABC-TV stations nationally from Sunday through Dec. 16, according to a news release from EMU.

Ryan said Paulette Moore, media arts and peacebuilding professor at EMU oversaw the students who worked on the documentary.

“It started last spring of my junior year,” Ryan said. “We started it in January 2012 and finished it in April. It was a semester-long project.”

As one of two producers on the project, Ryan spent long hours sifting through film and doing research for the documentary.

Advertisement

Work on the documentary was a labor of love for the students who worked tirelessly to tell the story of Terry, a humanitarian who was killed along with nine other medical and relief workers in Afghanistan on Aug. 6, 2010.

While Ryan said she pulled a lot of “all nighters” and put a lot of long hours into the project, she said it was well worth it.

“I’m proud to be a part of the making of the documentary. Just being able to get to know the Terry family especially his wife and his daughters, on a personal basis, has made every long night in the production lab worth it,” Ryan said.

“This will definitely be the highlight of my college career at EMU. I think it will continue to be a highlight, and a very memorable thing that I look back on for years to come.”

Ryan plans to watch the nationally-televised airing of “Weaving Life” with her parents Scott and Doneta Ryan, Greencastle on Sunday.

“I think it’s pretty cool that a group of just college kids filmed, produced and edited all of this. Yeah, I’m proud of it,” Ryan said.

Ryan will graduate in April with a major in communication and a minor in journalism and psychology.